The index page for the 1954 French flap section of this website is here.
Reference for this case: Beg-Oct-54-Bouzincourt.
Please cite this reference in any correspondence with me regarding this case.
The regional newspaper Nord-Matin, in the Arras issue for October 20, 1954, reported that Mr. André Vandewoyestine, farmer in Bouzincourt, was busy, around 8:00 p.m., (at a date not specified by the newspaper) with his son Bernard, aged 17, to unload beet greens from a dumper, near the road from Aveluy to Bouzincourt.
His attention was suddenly drawn to "a milky white glow that seemed to be suspended some thirty meters high."
Intrigued and rather frightened, he turned off the headlights of his tractor and was able to observe for "a fairly long time this gleam which he saw descend and disappear at a distance of 300 meters from the road at a place called 'Les Fossés de Martinsart'."
The two men finished their work and resumed their way to Bouzincourt, and it was then that they once again saw that glow that followed them for a few moments and ended up disappearing in the northwest direction. The two growers had heard no noise.
It was through one of their friends that the gendarmerie was informed, much later, of this phenomenon. The newspaper indicates that the gendarmes of Albert then immediately came to carry out an investigation - about which nothing is known.
The day before, October 19, 1954, another newspaper, La Voix du Nord in the issue of the Artois and the Somme, reported the same incident, calling the witness "Mr. Venderwoest." This newspaper also added that another farmer who was plowing his field in the same area said he had seen nothing, but clarified that he had occasionally turned on the tail light of his tractor to make sure his plowing was correct. The newspaper then wonders whether that would be the explanation for the sighting.
[Ref. vdn1:] NEWSPAPER "LA VOIX DU NORD":
|
- In Pommier, head marshal Decrequy, commander of the gendarmerie brigade of Fonquevillers, and showmen whose identity he was checking, saw Saturday, around 9:25 p.m., a craft that moved quickly and silently from Monchy-au-Bois to Humbercamp. A cyclist returning from La Cauchie confirmed the fact.
- The same day, at 9:30 p.m., in St-Pol-sur-Ternoise, from different places of the town, a luminous shape moving at considerable speed was seen by several people.
- In Amiens, Mr. Anquetil, waiter; Ms. Fournier, mechanic, in Fosse-Bleuets; Mr. Delattre, farmer, and Mr. Dewindt, from Courcelles-sous-Moyencourt, in Thieulloy-la-Ville; a motorist, Mr. Covemacker, and several people reported the appearance of saucers.
- In Bouzincourt, Mr. Venderwoest and his son, loading beet greens, noticed a milky white disc hanging from about thirty meters from the ground. The cultivator turned off the lights of his tractor, saw the glow descend and, finally, disappear. The two men resumed their work and returned to Bouzincourt; then they saw the white glow that seemed to follow them for some time and finally disappeared. Another farmer who was plowing his field in the same area said he saw nothing: he only made it clear that he occasionally turned on the tail light of his tractor to make sure his plowing was correct. Should we conclude from the comparison of the facts to an optical illusion?
[Ref. nmn1:] NEWSPAPER "NORD-MATIN":
|
Mr. André Vandewoyestine who is a farmer in Bouzincourt, was busy, around 8:00 p.m., with his 17-year-old son Bernard, unloading beet greens from a dump truck near the road from Aveluy to Bouzincourt.
His attention was suddenly drawn to a milky white glow that seemed to be suspended some thirty meters high.
Intrigued and rather frightened, the cultivator turned off the headlights of his tractor and was able to examine for a long time this gleam which he saw descend and disappear at a distance of 300 meters from the road at a place called "Les Fossés de Martinsart."
The two men finished their work and resumed their way to Bouzincourt, and it was then that they saw again this gleam which followed them for a few moments and finally disappeared in the north-west direction. The two growers heard no noise.
It was only on the indication of a friend that the gendarmerie was informed, much later, of this phenomenon. The gendarmes of Albert immediately came to carry out an investigation.
|
Possible misinterpretation, tractor headlight.
(These keywords are only to help queries and are not implying anything.)
Bouzincourt, Somme, André Vandewoyestine, Venderwoest, farmer, night, Bernard, Aveluy, glow, white, milky, hovering, frightened, headlights, tractor, duration, descent, road, Les Fossés de Martinsart, silent, gendarmes, investigation
[----] indicates sources that are not yet available to me.
| Version: | Created/Changed by: | Date: | Change Description: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Patrick Gross | May 13, 2020 | First published. |
| 1.1 | Patrick Gross | October 27, 2021 | Addition [vdn1]. Explanations changed, were "Unidentified, insufficient information." In the Summary, addition of the paragraph "The day before, October 19, 1954..." |
